Los Angeles  - Kevin

Washington  - US President Barack Obama's economic recovery package was expected to clear its final hurdles Friday as both houses of Congress prepared to vote on a 789-billion-dollar compromise bill.

Obama, addressing business leaders at the White House, called the stimulus package a "once-in-a-generation chance to act boldly and turn adversity into opportunity."

Yesterday, Mountie commissioner William Elliott told the Commons public safety committee that use of Tasers should be resisted as they can prove to be fatal especially in "acutely agitated" condition.

"We've now made it very clear that the only time the use of a Taser can be justified is where there is a threat, either to our officers or to members of the public," he said.

However, Taser International Inc., the U. S.-based maker of the stun guns, has defended the safety of its devices with conviction.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communication (RCOM) has signed an agreement with US-based Ditech Networks to deploy the latter's voice enhancement solution on its recently unveiled GSM network.

The deal is estimated to be worth Rs 50 crore and deployment is expected to enhance voice clarity on Reliance Mobile by approximately 30 per cent'.

Under the arrangement, RCOM will initially deploy Ditech's voice enhancement solutions across Top 10 towns and then extend coverage across other locations.

It should be noted that on Thursday, RCom has already commenced trial runs on Ditech's network

Washington/Beijing, Feb. 13 : China is to receive 710 million US dollars from the World Bank as a loan to help rebuild its earthquake-hit areas.

According to reports, the loan will be used to finance infrastructure, health and education projects in western Gansu and Sichuan provinces, the areas that suffered the most damage in the 7.9 earthqquake. The calamity left almost 90,000 people dead or missing and another five million homeless.

China suffered 123 billion US dollars in direct economic losses.

Washington, Feb 13 : Kelli McCarty, who once won the title of miss USA, has made her foray into porn flicks.

She has debuted in adult flicks with her flick called `"Faithless" with Vivid Entertainment.

"I enjoy acting, and I really like sex, so this was the perfect opportunity to combine two of my passions, It was a pretty easy transition, I think mainstream television is definitely starting to merge with the adult world anyway - it's all about sex and nudity, and I've been pretending to have love scenes on ''Passions'' for years anyway," Fox News quoted McCarty as saying.